like dandelion dust
by anticollision
Summary: SasuSaku drabbles. 5o/1oo — When he was around, everything was a little better.
1. regret

**disclaimer:** i'm only going to say this once… _i do not own naruto_. never have; never will. ba-bam.  
><strong>notes:<strong> so, i was bored. and i started to do random actual 100-worded drabbles. all of these are going to be in either sakura or sasuke's pov (and _mostly_ third-person). oh, and these are angst for the most part. ...now don't forget to be a nice person and _review_. ;D

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><p><strong>SAKURA WOULD<strong> always regret.

She would always regret not doing something.

_(I should have stopped him. I should have been less annoying. I shouldn't have taken his time in Konoha for granted.)_

But what could a twelve year old girl do? Sure, she was top of the class, but she was still young, only a genin. Emotions and dark eyes were a whole lot different from numbers and rules. She could memorize the latter; she could get the highest grade on those.

But when it came to him, she wouldn't remember. She would wish to forget. But she never would.


	2. goal

**notes:** if you can favorite and alert, _you can review_. thank you.

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><p><em><strong>ONE DAY,<strong>_ she thought, _I'm going to bring him home. Not Naruto—_me_._

The pink-haired girl had always planned out her life around her missing teammate. (And, really, she always has. Until the day he died, she probably would not stop doing so.) She became a stronger kunoichi and medic-nin because of him.

She was studying and training and _hurting_ because of him. All for him.

Truth be told, whenever she would see him next, she wanted to impress him. _"Hah, am I still weak now?"_ she had always wanted to ask (and know his answer).

He was her goal.


	3. perfect

**notes:** before i added in this note, it said that this was 102 words. nuh-uh. on document word, it said 100, so i'm sticking with that. in fact, _all_ of these are only 100 words. seriously; i promise.

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><p><strong>IN HER<strong> eyes, he was perfect.

There was nothing he could do that could make her (_hurt_) love him anymore. He would kill everyone around her and she'd still try to find some goodness in him. She made so many excuses for him.

When he left all those years ago, she had meant what she said. She'd go with him, she would do anything for him. And the latter one had twisted into something that made her think he was always perfect.

"_But he _is_,"_ she defended. _"He's perfect to me."_

Her eyes seemed to have gone blind, they say.


	4. burn

**THEIR LIFE** was a lot like fire. No, it was a lot like the things being _burned_ by the fire. And, eventually, they would become like ashes.

Naruto and Sakura would watch their city, their hearts, burn. Their once-upon-a-time friend was the cause for all of it. However, hatred for the ones you once loved seemed to be a lesson never learned for them.

She lied to herself, saying that she didn't love him anymore. But everyone knew she was a terrible liar. She still held her heart out for him, waiting.

And everyone knew that she let it burn.


	5. dream

**SOMEDAY, SHE** knew he would come home.

Whether it be because the boisterous blonde dragged him, or because of his own will… she didn't know. She didn't care. All she knew was that he was going to come back to the village. And that was _all that mattered_.

The pink-haired girl didn't stop her search for him, though. Because what if _she_ was the one who was going to drag him back? Because what if _he_ was the one who was going to be rescued that time? What if he would fall in love with _her_?

A girl could dream.


	6. fortitude

**notes:** don't know why, but i love the last line.

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><p><strong>SASUKE FELT<strong> weak.

It was one of those few times that he actually believed that. That, without others, he was helpless. He was alone.

In the rare times like those, he wished he was back in Konoha again. He wished he was waiting for Kakashi, he wished he was fighting with Naruto, he wished he was being fawned over by Sakura.

That, he missed. He missed knowing for sure that someone loved him. Even though it was _annoying_, Sakura became his fortitude. He wasn't alone.

He had _them_.

But then he remembered who he was, and forgot about them again.


	7. would've

**ONCE UPON** a time, Sasuke believed in happily ever afters. But that all changed one fated night when he was eight.

If it wasn't for his bastard of a brother, he would've had a perfect childhood. Or so he believed.

When Sasuke thought of his future—the one that he _would_ have had—he envisioned so many things. His father would have told him that he was proud sooner or later, he'd have been clan-head, he would have had green-eyed babies, Itachi would have continued to be the best brother in the world.

But fairytale endings weren't meant for Sasuke.


	8. miracles

**notes:** i think that this is my favorite one so far. & i think the reason is actually a good one.

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><p>"<strong>DO YOU<strong> believe in miracles?"

Sasuke barely turned his head towards the pink-haired and equally young child, "No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because _why_?"

"Because I have no reason to," he mumbled.

"Oh." Sakura turned her head to face the stars, "Well, I do."

"…Why?"

"Because," she mimicked.

"Because why?"

"Because, well… It's like this: I need someone to believe in me so I can do well. So, I think miracles are like that. They need someone to believe in them so they can do well."

"…I never thought about it like that before," he whispered.

Sakura glanced at him and smiled.


	9. nightmare

**notes:** updated today for _Usagi and Escapism_. =D

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><p><strong>HE WAS<strong> a never-ending nightmare.

Sometimes she wondered how a dream could entwine with a nightmare. But when it was just him in the dream, she stopped wondering. It was just natural for her dreams to turn into nightmares when it involved Sasuke.

But she kept on wishing, kept on hoping, that he'd come back someday. Naruto seemed to believe it so easily. It was unfair how he could continue believing in someone like that.

Maybe her hope would be one-hundred percent sincere if those stupid nightmare-dreams didn't occur so often.

Maybe if he never left, everything would've be okay.


	10. similarity

**YOU AND** I are the same.

I'd never admit it aloud, but it was the truth. When we first met, I told myself that I would never make the same mistakes as you. I thought that because I knew the consequences—because of your sins—I'd be better.

I would stand above them all. I would conquer the darkness. I would be _your_ light.

I learned to never make myself promises after you. After you _left_. Because now I'm a hypocrite. And I never would believe that I'd be the culpable one.

But look at me now…

I'm leaving, too.


	11. liar

**notes:** more first person-nesssss. oh, another name for this would be... S**HE**BE**LIE**VE**D** (because i can).

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><p><strong>HE'S A <strong>liar.

I can't stand anything about him. He really tried his best to get under my skin, didn't he (and it worked)? I'm glad that he left—no one wanted him around anymore. _I _didn't want him around anymore.

He and I—we were a mistake. And piece by piece, I fell—and he gained. Like a motherfucking vampire. He lied and lied, and I believed him. (_Why_ did I believe him?)

"_And don't ever come back,"_ I thought. I will never forgive him. I will never love him again.

—But God knows that I'm a liar, too.


	12. sky

**MEMORIES WERE** like the sky.

The thing is that it seems impossible to reach them. If they're so similar to the heavens, then no jutsu could aid in finding them. Yet, the sky's still there. You can still see it.

Sakura's memories of her dark-haired teammate would be the same. And like clouds, sometimes they would shift and change into something else completely. Maybe he had loved her. Maybe he wanted her to find him. Maybe he wanted to be saved.

If memories are like the sky, then they must be as fickle as can be—but there. Always there.


	13. tormenter

"**THE TORMENTER"** is just another name for Sasuke.

Maybe it sounded a little stupid, maybe it sounded a little cruel. Maybe it's perfect. But, what could Sakura say?—it was the truth.

Her heart would scream and scream and there was nothing she could do. She was in love with him; he held her heart and wouldn't let go. And it wasn't fair. _Why_ couldn't it be fair?

She wasn't one to do anything the easy way; but, Sasuke… Hadn't they all waited long enough? They (_she_) deserved it. But still, he tormented her heart because he _wouldn't_ come back.


	14. fair

**THEY SAY** that "all's fair in love and war."

Well, they must have never seen a war. They must have never seen love. Because those two things are _not_ fair. How dare they say anything different.

Sakura had far past her own share of experience on the subject. At nineteen, she'd been through an entire, goddamn war. At nineteen, many of her friends had died or had fallen in love. And at nineteen, she was still in love with _him_.

Absolutely nothing was fair there. She could be with anyone, almost. But still her heart cried out for him.

_Sasuke…_


	15. pray

**HIS RETURN**, just _him_, was all she ever prayed for.

"_Kami-sama, can't you send him home?"_ _"I just want to see him again. Send him home to us. …Send him home to _me_. Please, Kami-sama, please."_

(Be careful what you wish for—because you just might get it.)

One day, she heard that Sasuke returned. She ran to the Hokage Tower and asked her shishou where he was. Tsunade simply shook her head and gave her directions to where he was.

Sakura found him. She found him _dead_, but he was _home_. However, wasn't that all she had prayed for?


	16. only

**IF ONLY** she had fallen in love with Naruto instead.

Then, she wouldn't have to want to cry every time a memory, good or bad, came up about her former teammate. If she had fallen in love with the blonde, then she'd have been happy and her mother wouldn't have had to pray and worry so much.

Sakura could have had been even more powerful, because she wouldn't have thoughts of a dark-haired man hanging over her head. She would have that life she had always wanted.

Only, she was—_is_—in love with Sasuke. And that would never change.


	17. fix

**notes:** so my parents might be blocking fanfiction. just warning you alllll. i can always go to friends' houses, but, stillll. it would suck.

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><p><strong>ALL SAKURA<strong> wanted to do was to fix him.

To be honest, that was why she went to Tsunade, why she asked the woman to take her as an apprentice. To become a medic-nin. To become one who fixes the body. (But she wanted to be one who fixes the soul.)

She trained, because she knew that her beloved wasn't going to come home on his own. If he ever came back at all, he'd come back broken (even more damaged than before). She promised herself that she'd try to fix him.

But some things weren't meant to be fixed.


	18. fairytale

**IN AUGUST**, she saw the only man she had ever truly loved—dead.

_(("what a tragic fairytale; how she loved him all along and how he finally came home."  
><em>"_but he came home as a corpse."  
><em>"_but he was _home_."))_

Nothing could've prepared her for that moment. Not all the training she received from Kakashi, Tsunade, or anyone else. Not even Naruto could've made it all okay.

All she could do was cry. [She wasn't able to say "I love you" one last time.]

_(("but he never loved her—their story wasn't a fairytale."  
><em>"_not all fairytales have happy endings."))_


	19. enough

**notes:** probably my favorite so far—just because of the end. ...please review. c=

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><p><strong>HE PROMISED<strong> himself that he'd never go back. But one day, he did. He didn't know what was possessing him in those moments, but someday he would find that he was glad it happened.

The old village—_his_ old village—was different. It looked new. He had heard about the Akatsuki attack about one year ago. He heard that Naruto saved the day.

When he saw his former teammates for the first time, it was a brief (because in a few seconds, ANBU took him). Kakashi eye-crinkled. Naruto beamed. Sakura smiled. Just like they always had.

And it was enough.


	20. art

**SHE LEARNT** the art of lying.

[To others. But to herself…?]

She'd said that she didn't love him anymore.

—_But her heart kept calling out his name._

She'd said that she wouldn't care if he died.

—_But she felt crestfallen at the very thought._

She'd said that it would be better if he never came back.

—_But she prayed every night for him to return home._

[She just couldn't help but to lie.]

She learned it to protect herself, but it only hurt her more. Ah. Maybe it wasn't such an art after all...

Art was supposed to be beautiful.


	21. gossamer

**notes:** i made this one because i liked the word [chapter title]. so, uh, yeah. review. I'M SO SAD WITHOUT REVIEWSSS.

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><p><strong>HER WORLD<strong> was so delicate, so brittle.

Anything would set her off. Anything that had to do with him. No one was allowed to say, to breathe, to think his name in her presence. She'd go off into another crazy fit again.

She was like water, translucent and breakable. One little splash and her entire world would go haywire. Not even Naruto could be around her anymore, because he reminded her of _him_. They were all teammates once, and it was inevitable.

Everyone knew how she was; she was so predictable. And she didn't care.

She just wanted Sasuke back.


	22. idiots

"…**WHY ARE** you smiling?" Sasuke asked Sakura one day.

"You noticed?"

"Of course, Sakura. You're smiling like you had finally found out what Kakashi's face looked like." The boy paused in what he was doing, "_Did_ you?"

The pinkette giggled as she threw a stone into a pond, "No, silly!"

"Then why are you smiling?"

"You'd think that I'm an idiot…"

He shrugged, "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Her brow scrunched. "…_Sasuke-kun_!" she whined. He didn't say anything, so she finally admitted, "I'm smiling… because I'm with you."

A silence ensued until Sasuke mumbled, "Maybe you're not an idiot."

Sakura beamed.


	23. pastime

**YOU WERE** my favorite pastime.

The way you'd do anything for me—

_[the way I appreciated it]_

—the way you'd proclaim your love—

_[the way I felt secure in knowing that _someone_ loved me]_

—the way you took my words for gold—

_[the way I'm hoping you knew I meant my thanks]_

the way you smiled around me always.

I called you annoying for a reason. Because you _were_. You did all these little things that got under my skin. That made me stop and think about something else.

You were my favorite pastime for a reason, Sakura.

_Thank you._


	24. okay

"**I HAD** wished things would never turn out like this.

"I thought that maybe, just maybe, everything could work out. Everything would be okay.

"But—But everything's _not_ okay. The world's pretty fucked up right now. Everything is smoldering. And I don't know what to do.

"…Sasuke? Are you even listening to me?"

"Aa."

"I'm glad you're here, Sasuke. I couldn't have done this by myself. (With you, I'm okay.)"

"I wouldn't leave you."

"You said that once before—"

"I _mean_ it this time."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"I believe you."

"Good."

"…Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Thank you for coming back."

"…You're welcome."


	25. contradiction

**notes:** review, please! ;D

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><p><strong>SHE WAS<strong> a million contradictions.

She laughed, but she cried. She healed, but she hurt. She cared for others, but naught for herself. She tucked others in their beds, but she never got the chance to meet her bed herself.

She was one of _the_ best medic-nin around, but, still, she couldn't fix broken hearts—she especially couldn't fix her own.

She cherished the boy who broke her heart, but she loathed him for making her love him.

She was a walking contradiction, an explosion waiting to happen.

(And all she wanted was the boy she hated to love her.)


	26. silence

**notes:** thank you to _Usagi and Escapism_, my 50th reviewer~ ;D

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><p><strong>THE SILENCE<strong> was her own personal lullaby.

It reminded her of Sasuke, in a way. His brooding, hushed nature was something that drew all the girls to him. They all liked the mysterious type. Sakura was no exception.

Nowadays, she'd hide in her apartment, away from everybody, even Naruto and Ino. They're the embodiment of noise; she loved them, but she had to be in the silence.

In those quiet times, she could truly think of _him_. She could think of the past, present, future. She'd promise herself she'd never cry in the silence.

(But promises were never well kept.)


	27. weak

**notes:** if you can favorite/alert, you can just as easily reviewww. ;3 /cough

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><p><strong>SAKURA<strong> **WASN'T **the weak one anymore; she was strong.

She was an apprentice under Tsunade, the best medic in the world, the Slug Sannin, and the Godaime Hokage. She beat an Akatsuki member, Sasori, and helped save Gaara. She could tear apart the ground with her pinky finger. She could tame the Kyuubi's host, her best friend, with a few words and a hug.

She could do it all over and over again.

In everyone's eyes, she was strong. But she knew different.

When it came to Sasuke… she was still the same, _weak_ little twelve-year-old girl from Team Seven.


	28. family

**notes: **IT'S THREE OVER-AVERAGE GIRLS CALLING THREE UNDER-AVERAGE GUYS. [that was for christie.]

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><p>"<strong>HOW ARE<strong> you?" was the question Sakura hated the most.

"I'm great," she'd always say. "Thank you for asking." She was a liar, but she knew it. Everyone had their defense mechanisms—lying was Sakura's.

The only people she wouldn't lie to was Naruto and Kakashi, because they were there from the beginning. With her. With Sasuke. She'd break down in front of them, and only them, because they're her brother and her father.

She couldn't say that Sasuke was like her brother. She couldn't love-love her brother. But she couldn't say that he wasn't part of their twisted family.


	29. influence

**THEY SAY** that in six days, God created the world. It only took one night to alter Sakura's forever.

It's almost funny—  
><em>((but it's not, so <em>_**stop laughing**__))  
><em>—how something so amazing could happen that quickly. But to her, his leaving was just as tremendous.

When he left for power and so did Naruto—  
><em>((why did they have to leave for the same reason? i don't give a fuck if one was a better reason than the other. they both <em>_**left me**__))  
><em>—Sakura had never felt more alone and weak.

God and Sasuke had influence to revolutionize, why couldn't _she_?


	30. picturesque

**notes:** sorry i haven't updated this in a while. fanfiction was being odd. oh, and i hate facebook. that would be all.

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><p><strong>TO OTHERS<strong>, they were perfect. A picturesque couple. But in reality, they were anything but that. Picture perfect smiles and glances, but blunt reality's screams and glares.

Thing was, she always loved him. No matter how many times he would yell at her, no matter how many times she attempted to punch his skull in. To her, if they at least played pretend, then maybe everything would be okay. (Even if she really knew it wouldn't.)

This was their fractured flawlessness. And the girl wondered if the boy loved her, too.

_One, two, three—say cheese._

Smile real pretty now.


	31. know

**notes:** i like this one a lot, actually. do you? ;D

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><p>"<strong>WHY CAN'T<strong> everything be like it used to be?" Sakura screamed. Her heart was pounding, her legs were sore, and her eyes were watering. All she wanted to do was collapse. (All she wanted was the past.)

"Sakura-chan, what we're doing—what _all_ this is for—is for the old days to be back," Naruto told her as he stopped running, as she had.

"I just… don't think that we're ever going to see him again."

"Don't say that. He'll get back somehow."

She turned on him, crying, "How do you know that?"

Naruto just smiled softly, "I just do."


	32. through

**notes:** i realize that i keep making notes hereeee, and i don't really intend to do that. BUT IMPORTANT/AWESOME ONE HERE. _Princess-Kagami_ has asked me if she could translate my drabbles to german a little while ago. c= this is amazing~ (and of course i agreed.)

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><p><strong>THE DAY<strong> I saw Sasuke for the first time in years changed me.

I'm not going to lie, I've always had the wish that, "_Maybe, just maybe, he'll see us—see me—and he'll realize that he's an idiot."_ It was stupid. It _is_ stupid, but I couldn't let go of the idea.

Until I saw the way he looked at me. His eyes didn't hold that subtle look of reminiscence that I thought would be there. No. All I saw was darkness.

In that moment, I knew more than anything, I wanted to see through that hate. Through _him_.


	33. comeback

**notes:** inspired by "Black Clouds" by Fallstar. (this didn't turn out exactly the way i wanted it to. and the tenses are probably weird because i used a bit of the lyrics from the song. [which i do not own, ba-bam.])

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><p><strong>I SAW<strong> a boy leave the village with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Without a moment's hesitation, I began to run towards him. I could recognize that profile anywhere.

_It's Sasuke!_ Smiling, I just about caught up to him.

"Sasuke!" I shouted. He didn't turn around, but his feet began to slow. I took hold of his sleeve and said his name again.

"Sakura, go home," he ordered, voice slightly strained.

Suddenly, I began to get it. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Not saying anything, he looked me in the eyes and I knew he wasn't coming back.


	34. sorry

"**DO YOU** think," she whispered as she bled, "that if I left with you, things would've been different?"

He didn't meet her eyes, but he did answer, "Maybe."

Sakura fumed, edging on hysterical, "Is that all? Just 'maybe?'" Her eyes flashed with anger, _hurt_. "Why did I even love you?" she said lowly. Sasuke's eyes matched hers, but she didn't see it. "But isn't it funny," she murmured, "how I knew you'd be the one to kill me all along?"

In a few seconds, her life left her. Sasuke was too late, but he said the words anyways: "I'm sorry."


	35. traitor

**IT SEEMED** like he was lying. And maybe he was. They called him a liar, so he might as well be.

_[Traitors are liars.  
>And that's what you are.]<em>

But he, simultaneously, was being traitorous to himself. He had always told himself that _he_ was strong—that _he_ was his own life force. But in reality, it was always them.

_[It was always _her_.]_

Yes, he was a traitor. He could accept that. But only because some little part of him believed that she didn't believe that. Maybe she was still waiting for him. Maybe he was waiting for her.


	36. overt

**SOMETIMES SHE** thought that she didn't love him anymore. It would make sense, wouldn't it? He abandoned his home, he abandoned his loyalty, he abandoned the only friends he ever truly had—Team Seven.

But then that little, nagging thought in the back of her mind (most likely her Inner self, hidden away as best as possible) reminded her that she didn't hate him: that she still loved and missed him.

She never wants to believe it; she wants to get on with her life, but…

She was Sakura and he was Sasuke. What part of that was she forgetting?


	37. atelophobia

**notes:** the next five, including this, weren't written for this drabble collage. but they were a hundred words and i had a goal of hitting the fortieth one… so i added them. so forgive me if they're not seeming to really belong to this, or to sakura.  
><strong>notes2:<strong> atelophobia is the fear of imperfection.

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><p><strong>ALL SAKURA<strong> wanted was to be perfect. She wanted everything around her to fit into flawless pieces. And she was absolutely afraid of anything that wasn't perfect.

People, they're perfect. Their oddities, their misconceptions, their screw ups—it was what made people, people. It wasn't atypical. Therefore, people were perfection in their own way.

Was she perfect? Of course. She was a person, too. However, where she went, wherever she was, broken pieces followed her. Or maybe it was whatever was ahead of her. Because no matter how hard she tried, nothing was ever right.

Nothing was ever perfect then.


	38. suffocate

**notes:** BY THE WAY, IT WAS MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY. /coughhhh.

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><p><strong>SHE TELLS<strong> a boy that she's suffocating—that where she is supposed to call home, she's smothered and smoldering. They think she's a liar because she smiles all the time. But girls were always told to smile pretty.

"_Pretty girls need smiles to match,"_ her friends would always say.

But what were they saying now? Certainly nothing like that. Just harsh words played on volumes much too loud. She never heard "I love you" anymore, but she never heard the words "I hate you." She wondered which was worse sometimes.

She was unable to leave. She was unable to live.


	39. inside

**SHE'S SUCH** a good girl. She's never done drugs, she's never drank, she's never cursed, she's never done anything super terrible. She was such a wonderful friend; always there, a great keeper of secrets, a person you'd want on your side.

But that was all on the outside.

On the inside, she's such a bad girl. She wanted to do all those awful things. And she doubted that she was a good friend. She wasn't there—she was like a ghost with her friendships, slipping in and out of them all.

Maybe they didn't notice…

But what's inside's what counts.


	40. blinded

**SAKURA FELT** so hurt. She felt like there was no point. She felt like life was screwing with her. And maybe she was right. Maybe there was no point. Maybe life was being a bitch.

She knew that, too.

But the hurt of it all clouded her mind. It was like a wound—or love—once you're hit, it's hard to see whatever else is around you. You're blinded.

So she searches without sight. Arms outstretched in the darkness, _"Where are you; where are you? (Where am I; where am I?)"_ All she'd do was pray that she didn't stumble.


	41. heartbreaking

**notes: **hey, guys! i'm going to be busier than ever because _it's national novel writing month._ if you have an account, add me. i'm _anticollision_ on there, as well. c=

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><p><strong>IT WAS<strong> almost funny. She hurt so much on her own, but she did barely anything about it. (She just cried.) But she did anything she could to help out her friends. Her heart was breaking, but she let everyone hold a shard of it.

_((can't you see that i'm slowly dying here?))_

Sakura always believed that she was good with the whole heart-on-your-sleeve thing—she wasn't one of _those _people, she thought. But she was wrong, because her heart was there for everyone to use. For everyone to break.

But she was still there, for them.

_((where are __**you**__?))_


	42. beautiful

"**I THINK** you're beautiful," he said one day.

Sakura turned her head his way and almost wanted to cry, but held it in. "Wh-What?" She bit her lip, then smiled shyly. "Really?" the roseate whispered.

All he responded was a, "Hn," and continued to train, like they had been doing moments before.

She continued to grin, thinking, _Typical Sasuke._ He was always so passive—but he never _didn't_ tell the truth anymore. Ever since he came back, he was honest. For his gain _and_ theirs.

"Well," Sakura began quietly as she stared at his back, "I think you're beautiful, too."


	43. patience

**I HAD** never, ever said that I was a patient man. I'd be one when, well, let's see… When Naruto declared a boycott against ramen and wanted to become an exotic dancer instead of Hokage. (Actually, I could kind of see the exotic dancer thing. …Disgusting.)

Okay, so I was kind of patient with the whole I'm-going-to-Orochimaru-to-train-for-forever-so-I-can-one-day-kill-Itachi thing. I _guess_. But that doesn't count, because I was working the entire time.

Although, there's one thing that I'd very likely wait for. This thing wasn't exactly a thing. It was more like a someone.

What's pink, green, and red all over?


	44. race

**notes:** PSSHT, NO. I WAS DEFINETELY NOT LISTENING TO PARAMORE WHEN WRITING THIS.

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><p><strong>THAT'S WHAT<strong> you get when you let your heart win, she supposed. But she didn't feel like a winner. Everything felt lost.

With him gone, and with Sakura knowing that she was definitely in love with him, it hurt always. When she knew for sure, there was no after party. There weren't flowers or medals.

Sakura concluded that though her heart had won, there was a race going on. She was still running—chasing after _him_. He was always so far away.

But then again… it gave her hope. After all, the race wasn't truly finished yet:

Anything could happen.


	45. strength

**notes:** not as happy about this one. i liked the first sentence and the last line (well, starting from "all"). oh well.

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><p><strong>SHE WAS <strong>what kept him going. Whether it was in a physical form or merely in his thoughts, Sakura existed. Her annoying [reassuring] voice told him:

"_You can do it!"_

"_You're awesome, Sasuke-kun!"_

"_I'll never give up on you."_

"_I love you."_

He had taken the time to think about her before. He even visited her once (which she didn't know). It was like a revelation, his musings peeling away the truth.

Sasuke saw her willpower, her beauty. But most of all, he saw her strength (physical and not). He knew now that all along, _she_ was the strong one.


	46. foolish

**notes:** so, i don't know if i mentioned it, but i did nanowrimo this year-and made it to the 50k mark. yay, me.

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><p><strong>WHEN I<strong> was younger, I truly was foolish. Itachi was right then.

I was imprudent because I left behind a village that cherished me. Okay, perhaps not all of them, but I had friends. I had a team—Team Seven. I had Kakashi and his lazy-antics—his consideration. I had Naruto and his stupidity—his loyalty. I had Sakura and her annoyingness—her love.

How could I leave behind something like that? But I did. Where I was—where I _am_—there is no consideration, no loyalty. No love.

I was so foolish. (And I suppose that I still am.)


	47. children

**notes:** please review. c= it makes a big difference to me when you do.

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><p>"<strong>ARE YOU<strong> sure about leaving?"

"I'm sure."

"Are you sure that you're sure?"

"I'm sure!"

"This is a big thing, Sakura. It's not anything to be joking about."

"I'm not joking around, Sasuke-kun."

"I don't plan to come back."

"Then neither do I."

"Sakura—"

"_What_?"

"Dammit, it's not all a game. You can't follow me to the ends of the earth. And you're just a girl."

"And you're just a boy, Sasuke-kun.  
>(Why are you leaving? I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't want to.<br>But—  
><em>I love you, I love you, I love you <em>more.)"


	48. matters

**SHE FELT** so alone now. Everyone was around, but that didn't matter. It never did. All that mattered was that Sasuke was there. But now that he's gone, _nothing mattered_.

However, she wouldn't cry. She'd be strong. Because he likes strong girls, doesn't he? (Not long hair; that doesn't matter.) He likes strong, smart girls. That's what she gathered from him; although, he didn't even seem to be interested in anyone.

So, until he comes back, she'll grow smarter and she'll grow stronger. And until he comes back, nothing will matter… except for him—and the hope for his return.


	49. breaking

**notes: **hey, kids. how's it going?

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><p><strong>SOMETIMES ALL<strong> she wants to do is give up. She feels as if she's breaking and she's afraid of that more than anything. The ones who are broken aren't strong, right? They're flimsy and can't do anything.

If only she knew that the ones who are broken have an advantage, too. If they get back up, then they are stronger than ever before. But Sakura doesn't believe in fantasies like that. She's been breaking for so long and where has she gotten? She may be physically strong, but what about her heart?

Sometimes she wonders if he's worth the pain.


	50. smile

**notes: **just passing through~ (had this one on my flashdrive for while, actually.)

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><p><strong>WHEN HE<strong> was around, everything was a little better. He always had a dark aura to him, Sakura couldn't deny that. But she had seen his smile before. After you see that smile, you feel as if anything's possible.

Maybe that's why she still loves him, even after all those years.

Whenever she struggled—with loving and hurting him—she'd remember that smile. He's human, too. (Loving him would be right. Hurting him would wake him from his nightmarish state.)

Would he smile in front of her again? Would there ever be a time that he'd smile just for her?


End file.
